News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-12-15
SUNDAYS SERMON.
ONE OF REV. DIR. TALNINGE'S
STERLING DISCOURSES.
Subject: Thirst in a Cavern"

ISpthLPhPIll- 1uhfcH
IS OF the gdtep'-2 Samuel, xiii. Is
War, always distressing, is especially ruin.
Gus IN harvest time. When the crops are all
ready Tor the sickle, to have them trodden
down by cavalry horses and heavy s1nnIv
trains outlying the fields, is enough to make
any mans heart sick. When the last great
war broke out in Europe and France and
germany We're coming into horrid collision, |
rode across their golden haryeSts, and saw the
tents pitched, and the trenches dug in the
very midst of the ripe fields, the long
scythe of battle sharpening to NOV
down haryests of men in great
wlnrows of the dead. 1t was at this season
OF harvest that the army of the Philistines
came down upon Bethlehem. Hank to the
ciamor of their voices, the neighing of their
chargers, the blare of their trumpats. and the
clash of their shields
Let David and his men fall backl The
Lords host sometimes loses the day
But David knew where to hide. He
had been brought up in that country
Boys arein quiSitive, and they know all about
ereglOn where they were born and brought
up. If you should go back to the old home
s1ead, you could, with your eyes shut, find
your way to the meadow, or the orchard, or
the hill back of the house, with which you
We're familiar thirty or forty years ago. So
David knew the cave of Adullam. Perhaps,
and-seek" with his comrades all about
the old cave; and though others
might not have known it, David did.
travellers say there is only one way of get
ting into that cave. and that is by very
narrow path; but David was stout, and
steady-headed, and steady nerved; and so,
with his three brave staff-oficers, he goes
along that path, finds his way into the cave,
sits down, looks around the roof and the
dark passages of the mountain, feels very
weary with the forced march; and water he
must have, or die. l do not know but there
may have been drops trickhng down the side
have been some water I'M in it ths
goat-sllin slung TO his girdle: but
that was not what he wanted He wanted a
deep, full, cold drink, such as a man gets
only out of an old well with moss-covered
bucket Dav d remembered that very near
That cave of Adullam there was such a well
as that, a well to which he used to 90 in
boyhood-the well of Bethlehem: and he al
most lmagines that he can hear the liouid
plash of that well, and his parched tongue
moves through his hot lips as he says: ooh,
tnat one would give me drink of the water of
the we'll of bethlehem, which is by the gater'
IL was no sooner said than done The three
DraVe staft-otficers bounded to their feet and
start Brave soldiers will take even hint
from their commander. But between them
and the vel lay host of the Philistines: and
what could three men do with a great army?
Aet where there is a will there is a way and
with their swords slashing this way and that
they make their path to the we'll While the
FhIlistlnes are amazed at the seeming fool
hardness of these three men, and cannot
make up their minds exactly what it means
the three men have come to the we'll
They drop the bucket They bring
up the water. They pour it in the
pail, and then start for the cave ''Stop
Them cry the Philstines CLIP them with
your swords. Stab them with your spears!
stop those three menu Too latel They are
gone around the hill. The hot rocks are
splaShed with the Overlooking water from
the vessel at it is carried up the cliffs The
three men go along the dangerous path and
with cheeks flushed with the excitement, and
all out of breath in their haste they fling their
swords, red with the Skirmish to the side of
the cave and cry out to David; ssThere
Captain of the host, is what YOU wanted: |
drink of the well of Bethlehem, which is by |
the gate"
A te1t is Of no use to me unless 1 can find |
Christ in it; and unless l can bring a Gospel |
out of these words, that will arouse and com
fort and bless, | shall wish I had never seen
them; for your time would be wasted and
against my soul the dark record would be
made that this day l stool before a great au-
dlence of SHINING. suffering, and dying men,
and told them of no rescue. By the cross of !
the Son of God, by the throne of the eternal
Judgment, that shall not bel MAY the Lord
Jesus help me to tell you the truth to-dayl
on know that carrier pigeons have some
tin tars tied under the wing. and they
fly Llndreds of milestone hundred miles in
an hour-caTrying message So l have
thought l would like to have it now. Oh,
heavenly Dove! bring under thy wing
to-day, to my soul and to the souls of this
people, some message of light, and love, and
peacel
It is not an unusual thing to see people |
gather around a well in summer time. The |
husbandman puts down his cradle at the we'll |
euro. The builder puts down his trowel The
traveller puts down h pack. Then one draws
the water for all the rest. himself taking tho
very last. The cup is passed around, and
"a n ont fl1a fray- n1aT-
starts on his Journey and the workman takes
up his burden
My friends we come to-day around the
Gospel we'll We put down orr pack of bur
deDs and our implements of toll. One man
must draw the water for those who have
gathered around the we'll. | will try and
draw the water today; and if, after l have
poured ont from this living fountain for your
soul, just taste of it myself. you will not be-
grudge me a - drink from the water of the
well Of Bethlehem, which is by the gate"
This Gospel well. like tn well spoken of in
the text, is a wei of Bethlehem. David had
known hundreds of wells of water, but he
wanted to drink from that particular one,
and he thought nothing could Stake his thirst
like that And unless your soul and mine can
get access to the Fountain open for sin and
unCleanneSS We mus die. That fountain IS
the well of Bethlehem 1t was dug in the
night. 1t was dug by the light of a lantern
the star that hung down over the
manager. It was dug not at the gate of
CPsaTs palaces, not in the park of Jeru-
salem bargain maker. 1t was dug in barn.
The camers lifted their weary heads to listen
as the work went on. The shepherds, unable
TO sleep. because the heavens were filled with
bands OF music, came down to see the open
ing of the well. The angels of God at the first
gush of the living water, dipped their chaltces
of iOy into it, and drank to the health of
earth and heaven, as they cried: ,'Glory TO
God in the highest, and on earth peace"
Sometimes in our modern barns the water IS
brought through the pipes of the city to the
very nOstrils of the horses OF cattle; but this
well in the Bethlehem barn was not so much
for the le7sts that perish as for our race,
thirst-smittten, desert Travelled and Simeon
struck. Oh my soul, weary with sin, stoop
down and drink to day out of that Bethlehem
WE'LL
LAS the heart panteth after the water
brooks so my soul panteth after thee,
God" You would get a letter understand
ing of this amidst the AdirOndacks in sum
mer-time. Eere comes a swift-footed deer.
The hounds are close on the track; 1T has
leape1 chasns and sailed cliffs; it is tagged
out; its eyes are rolling in death;
its tongue is lolling from its foaming
mouth. Faster the deer, faster the dogs,
until it plunges into SchroOn Lake and the
hounds can follow it no farther, and it puts
down its head and mouth until the nostril is
clean submerged in the cool wave, and I'M
derStand it: - As the heart panteth for the
water brook, so panteth my soul after thee,
o God" Oh, bring me water from that well!
Little child. who has learned of Jesus in
the Sabbath-schoOl. bring me some of
that living water. Old man, who
fifty years ago Gijst find the well,
bring me some of that water. Stranger in
strange land, who used to hear sung in the
HSghlands of Scotland to the tune of 'Bon-
hem, bring me some of that water. " hS5so-
ever drinketh of that water shall never thirst.
''Oh that one would give mo drink of the wa
ter of the well of Bethlehem which is by the
gate"
Again, this Gospel well, like the one spoken
of IN the text, is a captured well. David re-
membered the time when that good water OF
Bethlehem was in the possession of his ances-
tors, His father drank there, his mother
drank there. He remembered how the water
tasted when he was boy, and came up there
from play. We never forget the old well we
used to drink out of when we were boys orgirls.
There was something in it that blessed the
lirs and refreshed the brow better than any
thing we have found since As we think Of
that dear old well. the memories of the past
flow into each other like crystalline drons
sun-glinted. and all the more as we remember
that the hands that used to hold the rope,
and the hearts that beat against the we'll
curb are still now. We never get owe r these
"reminiscences. George P. Morris, the
great song writer of this country,
once said to me that his song
"WoOdman spare that tgee," was sung
in a great concert hall, and the memories of
early life were so wrought upon the audience
by that song that, after the singing was done,
an aged man arose in the audience, over
whelmed with emotion, and said: "Sir, will
you please to tell me whether the woodman
tree under which we played We never for
ref the fountain at which We drank Alas